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CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity

fortune.com

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Re: CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don’t get me wrong, I use these tools daily. That being said I’m having a very hard time finding where the productivity gains are. So why are you using the tools? Personal curiosity? Workplace mandate? I've made measurably more and faster progress on both professional and personal projects since adopting these tools. Sometimes assisted is less productive than unassisted, but the net gain is pretty obvious to me.

Honestly? It allows me to be lazy.

That's a productivity gain in my book.

Re: CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity

#52
post #6

This article is underlining the stark contrast between the viewpoints of “AI Enthusiasts” and everyone else. Don’t get me wrong, I use these tools daily. That being said I’m having a very hard time finding where the productivity gains are. I imagine I’m far from alone in that search and when you pair that with the constant marketing and glowing “analysis” from some of the enthusiasts about how this technology is “sol…

I think a lot of the disconnect in the programming world is we treat all programming as equivalent and it's not.

There really are many programming jobs that are rote and I have no problem believing that an LLM based tool can learn the pattern and regurgitate with the tweak de jour. In those jobs LLMs probably do increase productivity.

But there are other programming jobs that are not rote and there is no pattern to learn because you haven't done the thing yet. LLMs aren't any more useful than a normal base library would be, and if you're already good at using a library of code, they're not a productivity booster and often, in my experience, a hinderance.

I think another point is the prompt actually forces the engineer to spend a moment to actually think about what they're doing and make some kind of plan. Pre-AI tools way too many programmers just jumped straight into problems without thinking what they were doing figuring they could code their way out of anything and ending up stuck in some cul de sac and having to back track. And if they just stopped and made a basic plan they wouldn't have that issue. Forcing engineers to make a plan, who wouldn't otherwise do so, before they start, could definitely be a productivity booster for them.

Re: CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity

#56
post #16

AI isn’t going away, but it’s also clear the much promised impacts aren’t there and aren’t coming anytime soon. A bit like the claims a few years back that we’d all have self driving cars by now. The most likely outcome is an AI bubble correction that will be somewhat painful and wipe out many/most AI startups, followed by AI settling into day to day in a way that’s useful and found in many places, but not world-as-w…

WE do have self driving cars with Waymo data showing it is clearly better than human drivers in certain markets like Phoenix. It is human regulations, laws and the general societal unease that is preventing a total rapid change. In fact a Robotaxis only urban area which is continuously mapped might be feasible today and probably could even reduce the no of cars needed for the population making it accessible to many m…

Ever driven in Bali?

Re: CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity

#58
post #20

My company has pushed engineering all-in for AI in the last few months Our stock price has also gone down 70% in the last few months Naturally, we're pivoting our platform to put AI front and center

Did they try and be an blockchain-first company when that was the rage? Making NFTs and whatnot. Is your CEO just a trend-follower?

Re: CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity

#60
repost from february; many referencing the same NBER report.

Some related discussions recently and months ago:

90% of CEOs Say AI Changed Nothing. The Other 10% Have a PR Team

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47766164

Majority of CEOs report zero payoff from AI splurge

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696636

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